Monday, July 6, 2009

No boredom..

I have this friend who has a little complaining problem. She’s often telling me that she’s bored.

I can’t relate. I bite my tongue and nod, and sometimes say (I’m embarrassed to admit) little condescending things like, “Gee, I hope things get better for you.” Or “That must be hard.” But I don’t really know what that feels like.

One reason for this, I’ve decided, is that I’m connected to, and care about, a zillion friends and extended family members. Someone is ALWAYS having one big life crisis or another. I include myself here, having occasionally been called a “fiasco magnet”.

Sometimes these problems are seriously bad, like divorce, job loss, illness, or even death. Sometimes they are difficult things like losing a cat, getting a rejection letter, or (if you have a teenager) having a seriously bad hair day.

Any of these things can keep emotions running high, and the occasional moments of absence is something to celebrate with a great deal of gratitude. I can sure do without the drama of these negative and painful things.

There is also the other end of the scale, the “good things.” In this list, we can include things like marriages, new babies, kittens and puppies, buying a house, or selling a book.

Sometimes there is a void in this list too. These are rare moments when “real life” takes a rest. Probably that’s where the idea of boredom might come in.

I've figured out why I’m immune. I’m a writer. Even when life is crisis free (hooray!) and there’s nothing new to celebrate (boo!), there’s no end to the little dramas I can make up in my mind at any moment in time. I can be home, or in the line at the supermarket, or driving down the highway. New characters, new plot lines, and escalating conflict are tons of fun and never ending on those “life quiet” days. My mind is always off and running.

This is one reason I’m really glad to be a writer. I seem to live in a “no boredom zone”.

Why are you glad to be a writer (other than those giant advance and royalty checks, right?)?

3 comments:

Carol Hutchens said...

LOL, Christine! Do we have to push the advance and royality ideas aside???

When our boys were young, I made 'bored' a 'dirty word' in our house. When the kids used that word, I gave them chores...tell your friend to get busy...lol.

You're right about writing making life interesting...and fun...and worth getting up for. Thanks for making us remember.

Zelda Benjamin said...

Bored... What's that? I'd like to try it just once.

Tessa McDermid said...

I always used the thought that 'boredom is a state of mind, you control it yourself.' Worked with my students and my children. In fact, one of my sons once wrote in a school paper that he couldn't understand how his friends could be bored - he never was!